Workshops

The first day of the conference comprises a range of workshops, to be held
on Monday 11th December. Delegates will find these events to be especially
valuable where there is a current need to consider the introduction of new AI
technologies into their own organisations.

There are expected to be six half-day workshops plus an all-day workshop (the
Eleventh UK CBR Workshop).
Delegates are free to choose any combination of morning and afternoon sessions
to attend. The provisional programme of workshops is shown below. Note
that the morning session starts at 11 a.m. (later than in previous years) to
reduce the need for delegates to stay in Cambridge on Sunday night.
There is a lunch break from 12.30-13.30 and there are refreshment breaks from
14.45-15.15 and from 16.30-17.00.

Stream 1 - Morning (11.00-14.45 Music Room)

The idea that intelligent systems have the potential to support the activities
of managers in organisations has been around for a long time, and at first sight
there is considerable evidence of that potential being realised. However, closer
examination suggests that the engagement of intelligent systems researchers
and practitioners with managers and management researchers is very limited.
Examination of the intelligent systems literature suggests that many papers
demonstrate the ability of a technique to handle a problem without considering
either the importance of the problem or the issue of whether the technique adds
value in any sense. Examination of the management journals and discussion with
managers strongly suggests that intelligent systems are not relevant; they simply
don't feature. The workshop aims to identify the important management problems
and the intelligent systems approaches most likely to add value. The aim is
to create a research agenda which will lead to the integration of intelligent
systems into the practice of management and management research.

Stream 1 - Afternoon (15.15-18.30 Music Room)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been incorporated into the curriculum of
Computer Science degree schemes for a number of years now at both undergraduate
and postgraduate levels. Despite the fact that the underlying research areas
have developed over the years, teaching artificial intelligence and related
topics presents a number of problems such as a heavy influence of one's own
research expertise and specialization in deciding the content of such courses
and a lack of standard methodologies and tools that practitioners can employ
for teaching topics in this area. The aim of this workshop is to bring together
researchers and practitioners that are interested in the teaching aspect of
the field. The workshop will address issues specific to teaching AI including
innovative approaches to learning and teaching AI, approaches for improving
the students' learning experience, the integration of theory and practice and
tools for supporting teaching and learning. The workshop will be a mixture of
presentations and open discussions of the attendees.

Stream 2 - Morning (11.00-14.45 Upper Hall)

Intelligent RoboticsChair: Dr Tony Hirst, The Open
University

There are many misconceptions in the public mind about the capabilities of
artificial intelligence in general and intelligent robots in particular. As
intelligent behaviours become embedded in everyday equipment, there is an increasing
need to understand the huge potential of these new technologies, as well as
their limitations. This workshop will review not only the latest developments
in intelligent robotics and promote discussion of the challenges they present,
but also question the desirability of research into different application areas
and review public concerns regarding the quest to create 'conscious' robots.

Stream 2 - Afternoon (15.15-18.30 Upper Hall)

Over the past decade recommender systems have evolved as specialised tools
for helping users cope with information overload. AI has played a significant
role in the development of these systems to provide more intelligent and personalised
services. With today’s increasing information-overload problem, the area
of recommender systems research is more challenging than ever before and the
use of AI techniques is more popular than ever before. The aim of this workshop
is to bring together researchers and practitioners that are interested in the
application of AI techniques in the field of recommender systems research. The
workshop will be a mixture of presentations and open discussions among the attendees.

Stream 3 - Morning (11.00-14.45 Friends of Peterhouse
Room)

This workshop will provide an overview of principal topics in artificial intelligence.
It will be of value to anyone who is new to the area. It will also be of equal
value to anyone who has experience of specific aspects of AI but wishes to have
a broader-based understanding. Part 1 will concentrate on symbolic representations
of AI:

• Rule-based systems
• Case-based reasoning
• Semantic web
• Agents

Stream 3 - Afternoon (15.15-18.30 Friends of Peterhouse
Room)

Continuing the themes of Part 1, the second part of this workshop will concentrate
on data-based and numerical representations of AI. It will finish with an overview
of how the techniques presented in both sessions can be used cooperatively in
hybrid systems. Part 2 will, therefore, cover the following topics:
• Data mining
• Genetic algorithms
• Neural nets
• Hybrids